The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) announced on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 its denial to hear the American Farm Bureau and allies appeal regarding the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The denial of American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), et al. v. EPA, et al. by the high court affirms the ruling […]

In a March 30 ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Flood Control District liable for violating the terms of a 2001 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. While the court ruled that compliance with a newer 2012 NPDES permit should be […]

The Ohio Supreme Court will hear a stormwater fee case raised by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) on September 9. NEORSD implemented a fee in January 2013 to pay for its separate stormwater management program, a program that helps to reduce flooding of homes and streets, erosion of roads and stream banks, and […]

On Aug. 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Los Angeles County Flood District is liable for violating its municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit. Its monitoring station data allegedly documented discharges of pollutants higher than those established in the permit. However, the county argued that the monitoring data was not […]

On June 25, in a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Florida Supreme Court ruling in favor of Orange County (Fla.) landowner Coy Koontz, ending an 18-year legal battle. In news headlines, the case has been called a property rights victory, an environmental disaster, and a factor of uncertainty among permitting agencies. Part […]

Clean Water Act permits will not be required on logging roads, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 20 in Decker v. Northwestern Environmental Defense Center. Instead, best management practices, regulated at the state level, will continue to be the method of managing erosion and sediment on logging roads. The case began when the Northwest […]

On Jan. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled to overturn a Ninth Circuit Court decision. The Supreme Court supported Los Angeles County’s view that water flowing between natural and channelized sections is simply a transfer of the same water and should not be seen as a permitted discharge. “Under the Clean Water Act, does […]

On Dec. 3, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an Oregon logging road pollution case that has been litigated since 2006. The court agreed to review the 9th Circuit Court’s decision to consider stormwater runoff channeled from logging roads as a point source requiring a Clean Water Act permit. However, the U.S. Environmental […]

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case — L.A. County Flood Control District vs. National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) — focusing on stormwater discharges in the Los Angeles area. During oral arguments, all parties in the case agreed that the transfer of water through concrete-lined sections of the Los Angeles and San […]

A March 2011 appeals court decision held that the flow of water from one portion of a river through an engineered improvement into a downstream portion of the same river constitutes a regulated discharge of pollutants under the Clean Water Act (CWA). By this ruling, a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit would be required. […]

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